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Holiday House helps disabled secure, retain jobs

Ann Grote-Pirrung
Published 12:01 p.m. CT April 4, 2015

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Sara Posvic mops the restroom floor as she does janitorial work at the Rahr-West Art Museum through Holiday House of Manitowoc County's Community Employment Services Program.(Photo: Sue Pischke/HTR Media)Buy Photo

Sara Posvic likes nothing more than playing basketball, hanging out with her friends and listening to music.

But for 10 hours a week, Posvic is all business as she performs custodial duties at the Rahr West Museum.

It's the same for Kevin Stoehr, who has his hands full with a full-time job at Oil-Rite in Manitowoc, cleaning parts and counting components, inputting their numbers into a computer and boxing them for shipping.

It's a big job, but Stoehr said, "I'm doing pretty good there."

Posvic and Stoehr secured their jobs with help from the Holiday House in Manitowoc and are two of nearly 40 cognitively, emotionally or physically challenged people currently placed in jobs through Holiday House's Community Employment Services Program.

"We help people secure jobs and retain jobs. What we want to do is develop a good job match that provides relative assurance that people are able to go into a job, do a job and receive support services as required for them to retain their employment for as long as they wish to," said Tom Keil, executive director at Holiday House. "We have been quite successful in doing that."

The program is one of two vocationally-oriented programs at Holiday House, the other being a pre-vocational service program, which provides sub-contract work opportunities for people with disabilities.

"We've been engaged in both of these programs for a very long time," Keil said.

The clients are referred to Holiday House by the state Department of Vocational Rehabilitation and come from all over Manitowoc County.

Keil said that placement of clients in these programs is primarily determined by each individual's interest. For instance, people engaged in the pre-vocational services program have their cases reviewed at least every six months.

"Part of that process is to determine whether or not that person has the interest in continuing to work in the pre-vocational services program or if they wish to move into a community employment setting," he said.

If the client desires to move into a community employment position, personnel from Holiday House begin the process in helping the individual secure appropriate employment. Being involved in the pre-vocational services program is not a prerequisite, however, to being considered for community employment.

"Some people come in from outside, never having been involved with Holiday House at all," Keil said.

There are two components within the community employment program: supportive employment and direct placement.

"Supportive employment is typically for individuals who not only need that initial help with finding the job, but also ongoing support. So we come in with job coaches from our staff who go into the job site with the individual from day one, help them learn their jobs and stay with them until they are at a point where they don't need so much support on the job," said Deanna Genske, director of social services at Holiday House.

That amount and length of that support is determined by the clients' needs.

Direct placement generally applies to individuals who already have a work history other than at Holiday House.

"Usually the supports for people who come to us in that program are shorter, usually 90 days. It's time-limited support," Genske said.

Some of the support services offered by the Holiday House personnel include resume and interview building skills, as well as community outreach to procure employment.

"We do a lot of knocking on the doors, but we try to encourage the clients to look also so they take ownership in what they're doing. Sometimes they'll find a job, and sometimes it's our connections here," said Don Stechmesser, community employment services job developer at Holiday House.

Those connections have been carefully honed over the years and many organizations and businesses have employed Holiday House clients for many years.

"The community has been very, very receptive," Stechmesser said.

In particular, the City of Manitowoc has been very helpful in placing people, including Posvic.

"We can't credit the city enough," Stechmesser said.

The clients have also been very responsible, Genske said, with the retention rate around 90 percent.

Holiday House personnel attribute that, in part, to the extensive screening and matching process that precipitates the hiring of their clients.

Jim Muenzenmeyer, City of Manitowoc facilities manager, oversees Posvic's placement at the Rahr West. He regards the partnership with the Holiday House program as a "win-win" situation.

"It's just good for business. You're placing people that have skills on jobs that are needed and necessary," he said, noting that currently six Holiday House clients are employed by the city.

Muenzenmeyer said an important component in the partnership is the relationship with Holiday House personnel.

"They make it very easy," he said.

Keil said that the benefits of employment that his staff sees in the people they serve is the same as with anyone who is gainfully employed.

"It provides stability, routine, income and a set of peers we can spend time with and share experiences with," he said.

Muenzenmeyer agrees.

"Do you remember when you got your first job and you earned that money and felt proud of earning that money? I see that all the time," he said. "I see them proud of what they do... It's a very neat thing."